


First Christmas (4 People Who Were Somehow Involved + 1 Who Was Not)

by Nekoburi



Category: Persona 4
Genre: 4+1 Things, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 22:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13222398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekoburi/pseuds/Nekoburi
Summary: It's the first Christmas that Teddie will spend with his boyfriend and he wants to make it the best evening ever. Some people played an unknowing role in this.





	First Christmas (4 People Who Were Somehow Involved + 1 Who Was Not)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RibbonOnline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RibbonOnline/gifts).



> This is a Secret Santa gift for Ribbon, who is awesome as hell.  
> Also a big thank you to Akaicchi, who beta-ed most of this fic :)

**First Christmas**

  
It started like this: a blond boy and a bear-like creature, hitting and slashing monsters in perfect sync. A nod, a wink, a mouth moving silently: communication at its simplest and yet it was so effective.  
  
Or like this: needles in his mouth, the backroom of the family shop, laughter and shushed whispers, a fairy tale-like blue dress and a wig. An awed "You're so good at this!" said with shiny eyes.

 ~~"I love you Ted—"~~  
  
Or maybe like this: the real murderer locked away, the girl with black hair and pale eyes finally smiling and free, the sun setting slowly behind the two boys and a confession.

"Will you go out with me?" "Of course Kanji-kun!"

 

_ 4 People Who Were Somehow Involved + 1 Who Was Not _

  
**1.**

Hatanaka Masumi had been an employee of Junes since it opened its new branch at Inaba. She worked hard, didn’t talk much and smiled to the clients: it was only natural that she would get promoted. Her shiny new tag for “Manager of the Bakery Section” was a welcome surprise on her desk.

 

Lately, the Bakery Section had seen an influx of people. Mainly the desperate trying to pick up a nice Christmas cake that would be cheap and aesthetically pleasing, which was difficult. Junes’ bakery was pretty small, and right now, it only had two people, three if you counted Masumi (who was only good with numbers and organizing stuff, mind you). Flu and colds seemed to have made an alliance and nearly a third of the store’s staff was down. Few among the rest managed to keep a good mood. The only exception being, of course, Teddie.

 

Teddie somehow became the official mascot of Inaba’s Junes. No one really knew where he came from but his good-natured cheer and his reluctance in talking about his past made it difficult to ask those questions. Only a few things were known:

· He lived with the Chief’s son Yosuke

· He often hung out with his friends at the Food Court

· He made bear puns. Lots of them.

 

And, Masumi thought, there was another thing to be added to this small list:

· He was pretty terrible in a kitchen.

 

Teddie had been recently sent to the Bakery section to help with the cakes. They had to put the batter in the mold, put it in the oven, take it out and roll the génoise cake very carefully. A bit more difficult than making pancakes, but still doable if done slowly. Hell, even Masumi could do it and she mostly ate instant noodles at home.

But somehow, _somehow_ , Teddie managed to melt a mold and forget the sugar in the whipped cream. Well, the last incident wasn’t that bad but how the hell he melted an industrial mold with the Junes’ oven was a mystery. Masumi needed a tall glass of vodka or she’d never finish her day sane.

 

In the end, the blond teenager (he was a teenager right?) went into decoration duty. Sticking plastic Christmas trees in cakes was the safest thing he could do. However, it didn’t mean that he was satisfied with that. He was pouting and mumbling unintelligible stuff under his breath. That was… A pretty ~~pathetic~~ sad picture.

 

Sighing, Masumi approached the young boy.

 

“Hey, there’s still some batter left. Do you want me to show you how it’s done one more time?”

 

 

**2.**

Tatsumi Ayako had always been busy with her textile shop. Ordering new threads, organizing the shelves and making sure that the kimonos put on display weren’t crooked... But not so busy that she missed the obvious joyful face that her son had when he came back that evening. Although he had been bruised and battered and refused to tell her how he got hurt, his eyes were shining and his mouth couldn’t stop twitching, as if not smiling was physically impossible. It had been… A very long time since he was that happy. And a nice change.

 

She didn’t miss the way one of the boy in Kanji’s group of friends started to wait for her son at the entrance of the shop. Or how sometimes, their arms were linked and they shared one of those secretive smiles she used to share with her late husband. If her son wished to keep all of that a secret, well Ayako would wait for her son’s announcement.

 

However, it didn’t mean that she was going to ignore her son’s “friend” who had the most troubled expression one could have in front of the fruit stall. In front of him were several kinds of strawberries. It was obvious that the poor boy was lost: as far as Ayako knew, there were at least 10 varieties of the same fruit, all more or less different in taste.

 

“If you want to make a dessert with them Teddie-kun, you should use the Hinoshizuku : they’re very sweet and have a low acidity.

 

The blond’s face lit up in recognition and immediately broke into a smile.

 

“Thank you Tatsumi-san! That’s _bear_ -y nice of you!”

 

When she came back home, it was to see her son rifling through the boxes in the storeroom.

 

“Ma, d’you know where we put our spare knitting needles? I don’t remember where I put mines and I have to finish the sweater for Ted—, I mean, for a friend...”

 

“Third shelf on the right Kanji.” Then, after a thoughtful pause, she added. “Why don’t you use the blue merino wool we just bought? I’m sure that it will go nicely with the pattern you started yesterday!”

 

Kanji blinked slowly, imagining how the finished product would look like. His lips formed a small satisfied smile and ran towards his room, a new set of needles in hand.

 

“Thanks ‘Ma!”

 

Ah, youth.

 

**3.**

Kobayashi Asuka had only been in the shop for a few hours and he had learned a few things from the other side of the counter. One, the only chair available was terrible and was going to give him the worst backaches of all times. Second, the room was as cold as a freezer. Unfortunately, the kotatsu was being used by his sister Tsubame. And she had a fool proof reason to hoard it: she needed to study hard since her final exams were coming and being half-frozen didn’t do wonders for your concentration.

There had been a small problem at the farm, so their parents were called there, leaving Inaba’s creamery in the hands of the Kobayashi siblings.

 _Not that there were many customers_ , thought the youngest. _But hey, at least I can devote myself to the Christmas event of Dragoon Codex_. Distractions were scarce: apart from some elders picking up their daily bottle of milk, few people bothered to go to the creamery. At least, he could raid a few dungeons peacefully.

 

“Welp, only one day before Christmas...” muttered the teenager. Not many people were online. The Germans with whom he used to play with were probably busy with organizing their Christmas parties and whatnot. _Well, there’s more loot for me. If I manage to stay alive that is_.

 

“Excuse me? Can you help me choose something?”

 

When he looked up, it was to see the face of another boy who looked the same age as his. He startled and accidentally let the game console fall to the ground. The clatter sound didn’t come though: the other person grabbed it before it could reach the ground, for which Asuka was grateful for: a cracked screen would have made him shed a few tears.

 

“Err, what’s your problem? I-I mean, what do you need?”

 

The blue-eyed boy began talking with a fast pace, hands gesturing wildly. Asuka managed to catch a few words though and he got the gist of it.

The blond guy (“Call me Teddie please!”) was making a cake for “someone that he loved very much” and thus he needed “the very best whipping cream ever”. Or something like that.

 

“Uh, I think that there are a few cartons left in the back, I’m gonna check. Please wait here.”

 

After a few minutes of searching through the cold room, he located the cartons of cream. Should he take them all? Or not? On one hand, who the hell needs three cartons of cream? On the other hand, that Teddie guy seemed pretty excitable, which meant that accidents were bound to happen. On the _other_ other hand, maybe he was a good baker and wouldn’t need three cartons. ...Eh, fuck it.

 

Asuka grabbed two cartons and went back to the counter.

 

“Here you go. That’ll be 700 ¥ please.”

 

The coins clicked softly in the wallet and when the customer was going to leave a handful of coins on the counter, he said with the same brilliant smile:

 

“Have you tried using the spell with the purple sparkles? That’s what Yosuke-kun did.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“You were playing Dragoon Codex right? My roommate also has that game and he wouldn’t stop complaining about the latest dungeon.

 

“Ah… Um… Thanks for the tip dude.”

 

“No problem! If it wasn’t for you, the cake would be pretty tasteless...” laughed the blond boy. “Well, looks like that I have to go. I hope that you’ll beat the dungeon! Bye!”

 

Asuka could only wave absentmindedly as the front door closed. That had been… A weird experience.

 

Back to his game then. Banishing Light (or purple sparkles) was the weakest dark magic spell ever so there was no way that-

 

…

 

Huh.

 

The words “YOU WON!!” were shimmering on the screen.

 

**4.**

Fukuhara Hiroto used to love fried chicken. That was his go-to comfort food: the crispy and flavorful crust, the tender and juicy flesh… Truly, it was absolutely delicious. The smell of it used to be the most appetizing thing in the world… Until he got a part-time job at the KFC of Okina City. The smell of grease and spices was overpowering and would be stuck on his uniform for all day. What was once the smell of a heavenly treat became something that would attract the stray dogs of his neighborhood. And he was really allergic to them. Yay.

 

At least, he would finish his shift with a bigger pay than usual. On Christmas Eve, the KFC would have a record number of patrons wanting to enjoy the special Christmas Menu. While staying later made him grumpy, the small part of him that still had the wide-eyed innocence of a child was pretty giddy at the sight of all those people. Struggling against the cold winter to buy fried chicken at the KFC was surely a sign of love and friendship right? Why else bother to go there when you could easily order it thanks to their brand new phone app right?

 

So now, the game among the employees of that shift was to guess how many people would be coming in. Whoever had the closest result would be able to take home the prize that was 20,000 ¥. The majority bet on eighty customers. A nice, safe number for the Okina City branch. But Hiroto believed that you could either go big or go home. So he bet on a hundred patrons. Just out of spite to Uehara, in charge of the french fries, the most pompous of all assholes.

 

But as the clock was ticking and the amount of chicken in the fryers was decreasing, so did his bravado. What the hell was he thinking? Was Uehara really going to win with his ninety patrons? Hiroto could already hear the gloating.

 

Suddenly, a cold gust of air from the door came in. Was it...?

 

A teenager, with his cheeks red from the weather outside and a grin. The hundredth customer. His golden ticket to the fucking prize. The ultimate middle finger to Uehara. Hiroto could already feel his eyes becoming misty.

 

“Good evening! Welcome to KFC, what can I serve you today?”

 

And as the blue-eyed guy excitedly told him his order (“One Couple Set please!”), he began to think about all the stuff he could buy with the prize. A new headset for himself? A fancy tablet for his partner? The possibilities were almost infinite.

 

 

 

**+1**

Kanji had finished the sweater for his boyfriend (just the word made his heart leap) minutes ago and he couldn’t stop fiddling with the wrapping. The cheery snowmen seemed to be mocking him under their little hats. When the temptation to re-wrap the present became too strong (is there such a thing as too many bows? Not enough bows?), he tried to concentrate on the table he set.

 

One bottle of cherry-flavored soda, many napkins for the fried chicken, two mismatched (but very nice) plates, their matching mugs…

 

The house was pretty quiet. Kanji’s mother had gone to Osaka to enjoy a few days of vacation with her friends, leaving the house and the shop to her son’s care. And if she winked and said that there was a spare futon in the closet? Well, no one could have possibly seen Kanji blushing furiously and dropping the plate he was washing.

 

He was about to fiddle with the wrapped package one more time when the doorbell rang. In a record time, Kanji was opening the door and letting in a Teddie with an armful of boxes.  
  
"Merry Christmas Kanji-kun! Sorry for the delay, the cake took a lot longer to decorate. Also, the employee of KFC teared up when he saw me? It was really weird but he was also smiling at the same time? I couldn’t really stop and ask what he was doing though, because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to catch the last train to Inaba so here I am! With my lovely and adorable boyfriend!”

 

Teddie stopped rambling for a moment to give the taller teenager a quick peck on the lips. Kanji could feel himself blush. The other boy just continued to carry his boxes to the kitchen, as if it was nothing.

 

-*-*-

 

After the fried chicken had been devoured, Kanji could see that his partner was almost trembling of excitation. As soon as the last crumb disappeared, he shot off towards the kitchen and came back with the precious box in his arm, carefully keeping it stable. Then, slowly, as if he was opening a treasure chest, he took off the lid with an anxious expression.

 

The cake looked absolutely _delicious._ The strawberries had a perfect red color, glistening like jewels. The chocolate letters spelling “Merry Christmas Kanji-kun ♥”, while a bit crooked, gave him the unmistakable warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest. There was an endless forest of plastic trees, planted in the thick “snow” that was the whipped cream that seemed to cover every inch of the cake. It was the first time someone other than his mother made him a cake.

 

He turned slowly to Teddie, with an awed smile. The other blond teenager still had the same anxious face but he when saw the other’s expression, that frown turned into the biggest grin ever.

 

“I love you so much Teddie. I… I’m so happy I met you.”

 

The answer to that couldn’t be heard though: talking while kissing is quite difficult after all.


End file.
